


A Promise for After

by Reily96



Series: Menphina Helps Those Who Help Themselves [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, I own my mistakes buds, I'll find them myself and edit as necessary :p, Idfk but HERE WE ARE, Multiple Warriors of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), THREE AZURE DRAGOONS?!, and the hopeless romantic, awkward conversation, because Stinky has a one track mind that says KILL KILL KILL KILL NIDHOGG and is bad at feelings, but still kinda fluff, how do you tag that, my shitty cat is persistent you know, no there is no beta, references to drg job quests, ship tag updated for ease of access but inaccurate! Not a WoL!, the shitty cat, the stinky one, this is hopeless fluff, up until Estinien's natural tsundere instincts produce his cactus spikes, when the main character isn't the warrior of light, while we're at it, yes there's three, you young people and your fucking betas too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reily96/pseuds/Reily96
Summary: Rumi Kalycoh, friend of the Warriors of Light, and one of three Azure Dragoons, has a crush. Sure, it's on a man that threatened to kill her and her best friend and their shared mentor once upon a time, but he seems over it. So in a rare moment, on the eve of meeting with Hraesvelgr, she manages to have a private conversation with one Estinien Wyrmblood, she's going to make the most of the opportunity she's been given. After all, she tells her best friend all the time, "Menphina helps those who help themselves."
Relationships: Estinien Wyrmblood/Original Character(s), Warrior of Light/Estinien Wyrmblood
Series: Menphina Helps Those Who Help Themselves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710415
Kudos: 7





	A Promise for After

**Author's Note:**

> Background info: Rumi Kalycoh is in fact a calico keeper of the moon miqo'te (I'm not clever but you can't stop me). She is a dragoon, and has a cat vocal tic cause YOU CAN'T STOP ME but it isn't heavy, dont worry you won't die. Her friend Colette (created by a friend of mine) is also a dragoon. They're friends with the Warriors of Light. There's seven of them. It's a bit crowded in the Churning Mists. :p

Cat-like ears twitched in the ever blowing wind, and Rumi’s eyes fluttered open. The wind itself wasn’t the cause of her awakening, though it certainly wasn’t helping the Keeper of the Moon drift off into true slumber. Despite having adventured for over a year at this point, it was difficult to discard a lifetime of a nocturnal upbringing. Grudgingly she sat up, wishing that she could sleep as easily in the night as their moogle guide and her fellow comrades, especially Colette who slept like the dead. But to her surprise, it seemed she wasn’t the only one awake. 

“Trouble sleeping?”

The Miqo’te girl glanced over her shoulder to see her fellow Azure Dragoon sitting against the fallen stone they’d camped near. Her heart fluttered, however, when she noticed that he was without his helm. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him without the helm, but it was such a rarity to see given his usual aloofness. Even so, it always surprised her to see that he’d managed to hide such pretty silver hair under it. Rumi rather hoped that the fire wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the flush arriving on her pale cheeks. When had she begun to find him so attractive? Rather than be stunned like a schoolgirl, however, she answered with a resigned, “It comes with being a Keeper of the Moon. Were I still living at home with my mother, she’d likely reprimand me for sleeping in the middle of night.” As she responded, she picked herself up and approached Estinien, taking a chance to sit nearer to him lest any further conversation disrupt their comrades. 

If he was opposed to her approach, he did not show it. “I see. I must confess to knowing very little of Miqo’te and the differences between Seekers and Keepers.” 

Rumi shrugged, “I take no offense; in all my time at Ishgard, I feel as if I’m the only one there.” She didn’t want to talk about herself, however. This was a rare opportunity for her, after all. There were not many times where she was able to approach him and have a conversation just between the both of them outside of a professional context. To her, it was an exciting prospect, and she found herself stuttering over her vocal tic that she took such pains to control, “Ny-never mind that, however. Pray, tell me why  _ you’re  _ awake? I feel as though you would want all the strength you could muster tomorrow should things go wrong.”

It was subtle, and could easily be blamed on the chill wind, but she was sure her question caused him to tense up in his armor. Rumi had a difficult time believing such a simple question could catch Estinien off guard, but maybe it had a little. His voice and expression gave no indication despite the body language, “To parley with a dragon… Aye, it stirs my nerves. Iceheart may have faith in Hraesvelgr’s potential cooperation, but in my experience great wyrms have no desire to be reasoned with.”

The answer he gave brought the silence of the night back, and her mind repeated the key phrase in his answer,  _ “In my experience _ . _ ”  _ The Keeper brought her gaze downwards to the grass and closed her eyes.

She and Colette with lances bared, charging at Estinien who was overcome by Nidhogg… It was not something she would soon forget. Alberic had lectured the younger Azure Dragoons on the dangers of letting one’s inner dragon take control. The man sitting by her right now gave the perfect display of what happened should they lose said control, only with his being substantially worse. It wasn’t just any dragon, after all. It was Nidhogg, channeling all of his hatred from his eye into Estinien. His last declarations before he left the Steel Vigil were that he would kill the young dragoons and Alberic the next time he saw them. 

Well, obviously, that declaration was moot. After casually dismissing his challenge, the Elezen man had not displayed any desire to fight Rumi or Colette. In fact, he had even gone so far as to address them amiably. His animosity to his fellow Azure Dragoons, at least, seemed to have vanished during their time in the Knights Dragoon. 

Rumi opened her eyes and peered up at Estinien, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. “Have you spoken to Ser Alberic at all since then?” Hesitation almost kept her from asking, but even when she asked she was afraid the volume her voice didn’t carry over the winds of the Churning Mists. 

But it had. While his fringe hid his gaze, his lips twitched downwards slightly. The Miqo’te was about to blurt out that he needn’t answer, but he did before she was able. “No.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

This certainly hadn’t been the direction that Rumi wanted their conversation to go. As she turned her gaze back to the grass, willing to take this as a loss in her book, he continued.

“It is yet another reason that the morrow has me on edge. Nidhogg’s intent was certainly to make me lose myself and doubt my allies. He succeeded. Yet even with this knowledge, my own feelings regarding the man who raised me as his own son remain…” he struggled to find an appropriate word, but eventually settled upon, “... complicated.” 

Rumi said nothing immediately. She couldn’t claim to relate. She never knew her father aside from the occasional gift her mother gave to her saying it was from him. Mother didn’t seem to like Father very much, despite the fact that clearly they were close enough at one point for her to have been born. Regardless, it couldn’t have been a good feeling, especially not with the other factors that contributed to Estinien’s rage at that time. 

“I… I think I can understand why you find tomorrow an uneasy prospect then. Ysayle has the Echo, but that only allows her to see into the past. You, however… You’ve been in Nidhogg’s mind…” 

“Yet there are times when I cannot tell if it is his rage or mine own.” The girl had not expected an answer, especially not one where the distress was both visible and audible. Even with his fringe, she could make out the furrowed brow, and his words were spoken through gritted teeth. Whereas before the quiet that fell between them was close to awkward before, now it was tense. Bringing the mood down had certainly not been her intent, and inwardly she found herself panicking a bit. Her first non-professional conversation with him was not going as well as she had hoped...

Quickly she blurted out the first thing that seemed a better change of pace, “Nya, have you ever considered what you might do after the war?” A wince followed immediately after she finished, because aside from being awkward she’d also let out her tic. The Elezen blinked and glanced down at her, clearly as taken aback as she was by the sudden change in subject. Yet Rumi swore that she saw some trace of confusion cross over his expression as well.

Rumi’s word vomit continued, “I-I’m sorry!” The Miqo’te quickly cast her glance down back at the grass, feeling a flush of embarrassment warm her pale cheeks. “I just felt that… I brought the mood down? Please don’t feel obligated to answer… Nyaaaa, ‘tis my own fault…” Estinien just flustered her so, in a way that other people didn’t. Gods, when had that happened? It used to be she could so easily speak to him, but she supposed that was before she had realized the way in which he made her heart beat so fast. 

What she expected, she had no idea, but it hadn’t been a hearty chuckle. The quiet laughter that escaped his lips made her stomach fill with butterflies. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard him to be in any sort of good humor, but it was the first time he’d done so in a conversation they were sharing. She dared to look up at him again, and by then his laughter had stopped, but he still had a faint smile and look of almost confused curiosity. “You are strange, Rumi Kalycoh. There is no need for apologies, though I fear there is not much answer to your question. In truth, I’ve not given much thought to the after. I suppose part of me thinks there never will be an after.”

Despite her earlier embarrassment, she could sense the conversation would turn back to the melancholy. “Nyaaa, of course there will be, we’ll all see to it! I mean, you need but take a look at this group we are!” The Miqo’te looked to their sleeping companions, gesturing to each person and group, “The Warriors of Light, a Scion, Ysayle the heretic leader - and certainly not least of all the never before seen in history occurence of  _ three _ Azure Dragoons! If not by peaceful negotiation then surely we can at least bring Nidhogg low!” And she truly meant it. How often could a group as odd as their rag tag bunch appear and come together under a common cause? Rumi eagerly looked at her senior Dragoon, again observing the puzzled interest in his expression. If she’d been a Seeker of the Sun, she might have even thought the light was tricking her into thinking his smile had broadened ever so slightly. But she was a Keeper of the Moon and her night vision was not one to fool her.

The butterflies increased their sporadic pace in her belly. 

“Perhaps you have the right of it,” Estinien conceded, though he did sound far more amused than serious, “But I would have no idea what to consider should the war end.” Where the lightheartedness was, for however brief a moment, his visage went serious again as he looked towards the platform where they would meet Hraesvelgr the next morning. “Vengeance has been the sole reason for my existence all these years of my life, the death of Nidhogg, my only drive.”

“Yet your life would go on should the war end,” Rumi pointed out. “Surely there has to be something?” But it was clear from the still grim expression he wore that nothing was coming to his mind. With a purse of her lips and a twitch of her ears, the Miqo’te had decided she would just have to help him think of something. “There’s plenty to do that might pique your interest. Not saying it’s for you, but Sumire and I met through the Botanist’s Guild - or maybe it is, you never know until you try!” 

And then like a strike from the Lord of Levin himself, it hit her. Her eyes brightened, and she twisted herself to face him fully as her hand unconsciously fell upon his own hand resting in the grass. Excitedly the words spilled from her mouth, “Nya! It can be so overwhelming with all the options, I can happily show you the ones I am personally fond of! Even if it may not be something you’re interested in, perhaps it will provide you with some sort of idea? Ah, it might mean some travel to Gridania, however, but it  _ is _ one of Ishgard’s closest neighbors, and really, when was the last time you were out of Ishgard? We can try all sorts of things together, I’ll see to it you find something!” 

Yet again, it seemed like she had stunned Estinien to silence. As she had spoken he could only look at her blankly in surprise before he let her words settle in. And again, he seemed to be more amused than anything else. “Talk like that almost sounds as if you had intentions of pursuing me.” 

That he meant it as a joke she was one hundred percent sure. Rumi was also sure that her face was as red as a tomato as her ears folded back and her breath hitched. All of a sudden she was very aware that her hand still rested upon his own and she quickly took it back. Her body was still faced to him, but her eyes glanced downwards to the grass again. “Ah, um… Would that be… I mean… Nyaaaaa, what if… what if I did have intentions similar to, erm… pursuing… you?” 

There was the sound of him shifting in place, and she dared to raise her eyes to see that he averted his gaze from her direction. But there was no hiding the small flush of color upon his face and the mix of surprise, confusion, and what she was almost sure was some concern on his expression. “You can’t possibly be serious… I threatened to kill you and your friend once. Promised, even.”

The heat still remained in her face, and with a pout she grumbled, “Well, it’s nyat as if I had planned on liking you as much as I do...”

“The dragoon jumps must have knocked something loose in your head then,” he dismissed.

It was that comment that touched a bit of a nerve. Her courage returned, and she had grabbed his mail to make him look at her again. Her pull was forceful enough to stun the Elezen, and even Rumi found that perhaps their faces were a little too close together. “And  _ what _ , pray tell, is so abhorrent about this Miqo’te having a healthy interest in you? Perhaps the dragoon jumps have knocked something loose in  _ your _ head?” She had caught the volume of her voice too late, but by the Fury she had words to say to this man and he was going to listen - even if she had to switch her tone to a harsh whisper! “I know you haven’t given much thought to anything outside of ending this war and defeating Nidhogg, but I nyever thought you would be so self-depreciative to think that someone would have to be brain-addled to feel affection for you!” Her tail was swishing wildly back and forth in annoyance, and for a moment the Elezen just blinked before coming out of his stupor. He went to brush her hand away from his mail to set himself free as he said, “There is nothing here wor-”

A phrase that she told Colette countless times rushed through her head at the moment.  _ Menphina helps those who help themselves! _

The Miqo’te strengthened her grip and pulled him closer, just enough to press her lips to his, silencing him. 

It wasn’t a long kiss, nor was it anything beyond chaste. Just as quickly as she had planted her kiss on him had she separated, her face no doubt putting the fallen moon of Dalamud to shame. Rumi’s intention had been to make a point, and seeing as how the coloration of Estinien’s face matched her own, she was willing to bet she got at least part of the point across. “You are a good man.” It was a statement of fact. But she wasn’t going to let him get a word in to the contrary. “Everything that has brought you here to the Churning Mists proves it. You want to put an end to the war, even if that means working with someone whom you’ve considered your enemy - even if it means potentially brokering a peace with  _ Nidhogg _ . Yes, you have a bit of a temper… You jump to conclusions, often the worst ones, and react… badly. But then you have times where you teach a clueless young aristocrat how to look for firewood and kindling... or you told a new recruit in the dragoons not disaprage the skill of an outsider Miqo'te. You can fool yourself into thinking you’re nyat worthy of anyone’s affections… but you’re nyat fooling me.”

It was only upon her final word did she release her grip upon his mail, her tail no longer thrashing about in irritation. The Elezen was frozen in place at first. When her words seemed to have sunken in, he shifted back to his former sitting position and crossed his arms. His fringe covered his eyes again, but the blush never left as he mumbled, “You and Ser Aymeric must be cut from the same cloth…”

A smile crept upon the Keeper’s face, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Leaning in ever so slightly to get a peek under his hair, she recalled the mantra again.  _ Menphina helps those who help themselves. _ “I suppose nyeow that my intentions are out in the open, I can ask you this… Perhaps when the war is over, you’ll allow me to show you a few of my favorite places? I would still like to see if you cannot find something else that may occupy your time and… well, I would like to spend more time with you. Personally. That is… if you wouldn’t mind it.”

Despite her best efforts, however, she couldn’t quite read any sort of answer off of him. He seemed to be frozen stiff again, put into an uncomfortable situation he wasn’t sure how to address. The silence went on so long that Rumi felt the mantra she made up for Colette was likely nothing but wishful thinking. Maybe, she made things just a tad too awkward. 

Just as her ears began to slump downward, he finally answered, “I suppose it isn’t an awful prospect…”

Rumi brightened, and one last time she repeated the mantra in her head. Quickly, she got on all fours to get close enough to give him a quick peck on the cheek, before backing up and bouncing up to her feet. “Thank you, Estinien.” Her voice came out in a sing-song, and she leaned down again, “Try to get some sleep, we still have a big day tomorrow.” And she turned around and did her best to quietly return to her previous spot. 

If anyone had awoken from the louder parts of Rumi and Estinien’s odd exchange, they were certainly pretending to be asleep now. And as she settled down on her patch of grass close to Colette, who was still dead to the world, she couldn’t believe what had just happened. The butterflies seemed to be flitting up a storm in her stomach, and she was fairly certain she was wearing a giddy grin. She curled up on her side, unsure if she could even sleep with all her excitement… but she did manage to see one of the Warriors of Light, Sumire Iga, with one eye open on her side, a big grin, and giving her a thumb’s up.  


**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey I've been playing a lot of FFXIV. Oh hey I'm love with all these very climbable Elezen husbandos. Oh hey, I made an alt to ship with a stinky dragoon. I'll stop with the oh heys. This here is gonna be a three parter and also this one is probably going to be the most innocent one. I have nothing else to say for the moment.


End file.
